Photo Albums

March 28, 2010

Two of my favorite holidays are Easter and Thanksgiving, mostly because with each, there isn't much expected except for family time and good food.

I'm lucky in that, at the moment, when we have these two holidays that there isn't anyone involved who plays drama king or queen, gets too drunk, or fights. Now, I may be making assumptions about some other families, but with the advent of forums and the like all I know is, is that I read a heck of a lot of personal family drama online and I'm thanking my lucky stars that when the local family that I have gets together it is always, always a good time.

Christmas, however, tends to be a different story, but I won't go into that!

Yesterday, Girlfriend and I made these tie dye eggs. Since HWWV usually has at least a few rejects he'll allow us to cut up each year, this is our preferred method for dyeing Easter eggs. I know that if I didn't have his ties to cut up, I could go to the thrift shop and get some on the cheap.

This is how we do it:

1. Get a few SILK ties (three or four should be enough for 18 or so eggs) and an old cotton t-shirt and some rubberbands.

2. Take the stitching out of the ties and rip out the interfacing and cut off any non-silk portions. Open them up flat.

3. Cut the ties into squares large enough to wrap the egg in, covering completely with the RIGHT SIDE of the tie facing the egg.

4. With a slightly larger square of t-shirt, wrap the silk-covered egg completely and use rubber bands to close it all up.

5. Place eggs in large kettle and cover with water making sure they have room to move. Add at least 3 tablespoons of white vinegar.

6. Bring to a slow boil and allow to simmer for 25 or more minutes. Remove from heat and allow eggs to cool on a flat surface. Remove t-shirt and silk squares and voila!

March 24, 2010

The quality isn't that great because I haven't yet figured out the best placement of my hands versus the camera (have ordered a wide-angle lens to improve things), but I'm still excited about it. Some people have requested more information about the stitch pattern in the Dream Swatch Duo, so I thought this would be a good starting place to begin putting out video tutorials.

Forgive some of the blurry. The important stuff is viewable and I'm looking into ways to improve the situation. Once I cure the deal, I hope to begin to start offering online classes for various techniques like converting piece-patterns to top-down all-in-one's, etc.

BTW: Every time I have previewed the video with the audio turned on, all the animals come into the room looking for me. Even Girlfriend wandered into the kitchen from upstairs while I played it back about an hour ago. She said, "Hey mom, there's a lady on your computer who has your voice."

March 23, 2010

Once I put my hexagon pincushion together correctly, it was still blobby mess. I couldn't figure out why but then I realized that one of my crocheted "hexagons" was actually an irregular heptagon. How do I know what an irregular heptagon is? I Googled it.

Anyway, the fix is in. I ended up fixing my mistake by wrapping the pincushion "pincushion" style and fastening down the wraps with an ugly button.

I used perle 5 cotton in eight colors. The crochet hook, I think, was a little big (1.75mm). Next time, I want to use Perle 5 Cotton again, but with a smaller needle and a big honkin' magnifying glass, the kind you hang around your neck when your husband's not at home.

I will also line it with some muslin so the stuffing doesn't come out. The other thing I will do is try not to look at it and think of those fake boobies people knit and post on Ravelry.

March 22, 2010

I should have known when I had to beg my geometry teacher, the one who used to wear lilac espadrilles, to let me help him correct the tests to get extra credit so I could pass the class, that putting together the puzzle pieces might be a bit of a challenge.

Fail. I failed. I worked on these all day and when looking at the MANY pictures and the VERY PRECISE instructions my brain shut down. So, me being the type of person that I am, I just put my head down and gave it a shot on my own.

What I have now is a wonky almost square thing. It isn't a hexagon. And if I just looked at one finished picture long enough, I'm sure I could have figured it out. But no. Fail fail fail.

My eyes are so blurry now and the idea of having to rip out the teeny tiny perfect little stitches I made so this blob will never ever fall apart, even in a massive natural disaster, is mind boggling.

March 19, 2010

Back when I was stitching all those balls, I gathered a hell of a lot of that Perle cotton, the number five type and when I saw this crocheted pin cushion I thought I needed to make one as soon as possible. I don't do much crochet or sewing myself, but why not?

Which brings me to this: I have often wondered why knitters, especially, happen to be one-type lovers when it comes to their crafts. I mean, the knitters, many or most of them are so knitter-like that when a crochet item comes into play they blanch. Me? I always sort of go with it, but the whole crochet thing has always made me stand there and wonder: If knitting is that more difficult than crochet, then why is it that knitters have so much trouble with crochet?

Crochet, in my mind, is supposed to be an introduction to stitchery. Well, not totally an introduction to all stitchery, because to be fair, we have the more advanced types like filet crochet, the Tunisian crochet, and we have the confusion between the English and the British double crochets, which has provided many of us, me included, with all manner of hah-hah moments, including finished caps that are twice the size I intended them to be, but oh well. (I guess I was supposed to know that single crochet was the same as double in those English patterns. I'm not bitter.)

All I'm saying is, I guess, what I am saying is, when I read that you're upset that a knitting pattern or magazine has two lines of crochet in it, I feel bad and a little frustrated. It's only yarn and if you can manage two needles for knitting, then certainly only one shouldn't be too much trouble.

If you're not a crochet lover, I'm sure you'll convert after I'm finished with these little skeins.

I have friends who needlepoint AND knit.

I have friends who quilt AND knit.

I have friends who sew AND knit.

I have friends who crochet AND sew.

I have friends who cook AND knit AND sew.

I have friends who freakin' hook rugs AND knit AND sew.

I have friends who crochet AND crochet.

And I have friends who knit AND knit.

But I do not have more than a few friends who both knit and crochet and I am sincerely asking why (Because, sisters and brothers, it's all yarn, and I do not know the answer to that question. If I knew I would tell you...so why don't you please tell me why oh' why?)

March 15, 2010

There are times when I knit something and I see a mistake maybe a row or round or more before and choose not to rip it out.

I always, always regret it.

Just the other day, this past weekend, we were at my sister's house for a yard sale. It wasn't very busy, probably because she lives up on this hill and her house is just terrible to find. I mean, we've been there 26.4 times and HWWV still relies on the GPS. . .

Hey, don't ask me about the GPS because I could write an entire post on how silly I think that is, I mean, come on, who can't find their way to a house you've been to 26.4 times? Answer: My husband.

So, anyway, we had a lot of down time and although we declared it wine o'clock at around 12:55 p.m., I had made a mistake in these socks much earlier, like at 11:55 a.m.

So, as I pointed out the large hole I made in the heel of one of the socks, I asked the group if I should just continue or if I should rip. The group said, keep going and just darn it later.

Well, for crap. Me? Keep going and darn it later? This is what I have to say: If you keep going, you'll definitely say "darn it," later.

March 10, 2010

So, I was just going to go on Twitter complaining that every. single. time. I go outside my neighbor to the right sweeps up her blinds--she has to lean over a big stretch of tile, a bathtub and whatnot to do so: That woman must be one of those superhero stretch types that double as wackadoodle paranoids--as if I am not completely aware that she's doing that.

But just as I was getting ready to tweet, or whatever the heck they call it, I realized that this world works out perfectly: Here, I'm complaining that she's staring at me all the time, and yet I've practically worn out the tendons in my neck, what, with me snapping my head to the left to look across the street at my neighbor's house every time I hear a stinking sound.

Oh, the tale I've started. I started it because it is a grand-scale tale, one that could have a movie surrounding it, not unlike Fargo (except there are no dead bodies, just a huge dead tree), and the hero isn't anyone, really, except for the story itself, the one in my head, and the way I've told it just doesn't do it justice.

I've always wanted to write a novel, but shoot, I need some practice on my delivery if I'm ever going to manage that.

To give some background, I saw the wife, back a year or so ago, just after my surgery, at the physical therapists office. She recognized me immediately and announced she was there to rehab her shoulder because she fell down the stairs. I asked, jokingly, "Were you drinking?" And she answered: "Yes, I was really drunk."

So fast forward to a couple months ago and HWWV coming home from a run and asking why all the cop cars are out front. I sprinted up to my room, no--I ran--up to my room and pulled the blinds up. This is what I saw: Three cop cars, and a new German import car parked out front. After awhile, they all left and I didn't see a thing.

This got me going, and I remembered Christmas, how the lights went up just after Halloween and how I thought, like I do every year, that this happens because "someone must be dying in that house and not expected to make it to Christmas." Then, I thought how the axe came out shortly after and that huge tree came down single-handed, roots and all, within a day or two. I knew, as I told you, that something wasn't right.

The next weekend, the cops came again, but I was already there at the window. The rain was coming down, and then the new German import drove up and out hopped the wife, and steady as you go, while the three or four officers looked on under the eaves, she brought out armful and armful of clothing. No boxes, just piles and piles of clothing. She had to run fast and all her clothes got wet anyway.

The next weekend, the same thing. And it was raining then, too.

So the Sunday of that weekend when Girlfriend discovered a new friend to play with I stood out front and met a neighbor who has lived on my side of the street for the past 12 years, just like us. For the first time we talked, and then I said:

"Hey, you know the guy over there that screams at his wife?"

"Oh yes," she said. "Lots of activity these days."

"Why'd he take down that tree?"

"With his own bare hands!" she said. "I have no idea, but boy was he fast. I bet that's the same axe I hear he used one time recently to try to hack down the back door when she locked him out."

So, we stood there for awhile more, exchanging information, and when I asked her why the cop cars, because, you know, I figured she needed the officers there for protection the way she was running in and out of the house, the neighbor I just met said this:

"The cops were there because he got custody of their child and they thought she might commit a kidnapping."

I suppose, sitting up here in my room, looking out the window--as long as it is lighter outside than it is inside--has given me a sense of drama that may or may not be there for sure.

...Except, to tell you the truth, I think what has happened is probably more dire and a little more depressing than I can actually say.

March 06, 2010

You knitters know what I'm talking about when I talk about that one very special skein of yarn that you happen to either buy on a whim, or on the spot, or without a care, or just "because," and then go home and put it on the shelf and then you stare at it for eons, wondering what you could possibly make using just that one, perfect skein.

Each of these items take just one perfect skein. In fact, these were designed especially for that yarn, the one that is currently sitting on your shelf, staring at you.

These employ a variation of the same stitch pattern, but they are not the same. The Forever Scarf is knit circularly and the crossed sections run parallel to the cast on the edge. The Head Wrap version is knit flat and instead of garter ridges between crossed sections, it is in stockinette so it can lay flat on the head.

The Dream Swatch Forever Scarf is a lot of fun because you can wear it any way you want: Single, doubled, or tripled around your neck. You could even fold it just so and wear one of your favorite shawl pins. I even tried it on "Grace Kelly" style, and it works!

March 05, 2010

Well, it's finished and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. This is something that I will wear--even indoors--because I like wearing regular, woven scarves. The Bugga! yarn is wonderful and sort of hard to get, but there is another yarn that will work just as well if you can't find it, the Pagewood Farms Alyeska Sock Yarn. Even another nice squishy skein of sock yarn that will take up to a size 3 needle will work (I am recommending a size 4 needle with this scarf due to openness of the stitch pattern). The key is, it has to be extra special and something you will love to wear close to the skin.

Any rate, the pattern is basically ready. I'll post it soon.

And, if you are wondering: I am going to include the pattern for the Dream Swatch Head Wrap.

The stitch pattern used in this pattern is a variation of the Indian Cross Stitch which isn't super easy to do because you triple or quadruple wrap your needle as you knit and then on your way back, you drop the wraps to create elongated stitches, stitches that you cross and knit in a new order.

An advanced beginner could definitely do this, but they would have to be very patient when rearranging the stitches on the needle to avoid frustration. What I think I am going to do is shoot a quick video later today or some time tomorrow and put it here on my blog to show how it is done in case you're interested.

I guess the nicest thing about this particular scarf is that you can wear it multiple ways and wrap it this way and that. Plus, it's a great project for that one extra special skein of yarn you've been wondering what to do with!

March 03, 2010

It's so close, I can taste it, this blob here. I don't even know what to call it, but it's going to be a companion to my old Dream Swatch pattern, unless, of course, the dang thing breaks my heart when it is finally off of the needles.

When I say "companion," I certainly do NOT mean that one should knit and wear both the Dream Swatch Head Wrap and whatever this blob is at the same time. If they did, they'd run the risk of looking like a bag lady with good knitting taste but with bad fashion taste, or worse, an overeager knitter who can't help but wear too much of a good thing--if this thing turns out to be a good thing, that is.

So, Dream Swatch Head Wrap will be available again, along with its companion, something I'll call in the order of "circle scarf" or "endless scarf" or "can-be-a-cowl" or something more descriptive, like used-to-be-a-blob (or, more likely: "The Sweetest Melody is an Unheard Refrain," my new favorite line from a beloved ABC song, "Poison Arrow").

I tell you what: There's nothing like the drama and suspense of an untried Object.

In the spirit of the Dream Swatch, I'm using just one dear skein of a very special yarn, which, in of itself, is a total adventure. This time, I happened to have one skein of Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in an amazing colorway that was calling out to me. Alternatively, you could use just one skein of another similar yarn. The Pagewood Farms Alyeska is something that would work fabulously.

So that's it. That's what I'm doing. Getting ready to tackle the blob, bind off, try it on, either faint or rejoice and move on, wishing I never tried it on in the first place. (Like I said, sometimes in knitting, the sweetest melody is an unheard refrain.)

BTW: I know I owe an installment of crazy neighbor spy activity. All is quiet these days and I saw that he got a notice from the water/power company that they were going to shut off his services. He was clearly not embarrassed because he walked to his front door, took the notice off the door knob and, realizing that he forgot something in his car, put it in his mouth and walked all the way to it with the big yellow notice flapping in the wind and against his face to get whatever it is he forgot.

In terms of police activity and wife/daughter sightings. Each time the wife has visited, three cop cars have arrived with her. The reason will surprise you. It's not what you think.

And also: I'm on Twitter, finally. I keep Facebook kind of quiet, but I figure I can let loose on Twitter. My name there is KnitTonicWendy.